For the second year in a row, the Builder's Artificial Intelligence Forum convened at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Vatican City. Led by industry innovators, the Forum seeks to address the most pressing moral, practical, and global issues of Catholic AI development.
MATTHEW HARVEY SANDERS
It (BAIF) is an acknowledgement that the challenges and opportunities (of AI) are too vast for any one person or organization. Our ultimate goal is not to build one thing, but to launch a thousand ships
While many participants recognized the immense good from Catholic digital expansion, they have also seen an increase of demands for in-personal experiences and real-world encounters.
JOHN CANNON
Washington, D.C.
One of my monastic mentors once told me “God loves us right where we are, but He also loves us too much to leave us there.” And He wants to invite us deeper, into something further. And I think the digital world is like that. Like that's where people are, and there's a lot of good stuff there. You can - I know tons of people amazing conversions or who have grown in their faith because of their learning online. But also, we're called to be in-person, incarnate, together, in community.
This issue led John Cannon to found Monk Mindset – an app and website that unites online monastic inspiration with real-world, practical support, and eventually, puts the user in contact with a local religious community.
Throughout the conference, finding ways to use A.I. and not hyperfocused on it, seemed to be many innovators central goal.
FATHER JOHN DARAZIO
A.I. is a great breakthrough, and it's a great technology, that can be of great use to humanity. At the same time, when there's a lot excitement around a new technology, we can become very focused on it and not realize that it's a tool we can use, and some people can become even perhaps dependent on such tools.
Even Pope Leo XIV, in his written address to the BAIF conference, urged the members to shift their focus from futuristic excitement to real and ecclesiastic truths.
POPE LEO
The Church therefore calls all builders of AI to cultivate moral discernment as a fundamental part of their work — to develop systems that reflect justice, solidarity, and a genuine reverence for life.
Perhaps ironically, the return of humanity took center stage at this year's Builders AI Forum.
CRT
